Podcast Episode Summary

The Digital Marketing Podcast

Episode: A Rather Surprising Twitter Myth
Hosts: Daniel Rowles & Ciaran Rogers
Date: July 31, 2016

Episode Overview

This episode explores a persistent myth surrounding Twitter: the belief that URL shorteners save space in your tweets. Hosts Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers dissect why this myth persists, clarify Twitter's real character limits for links, and discuss the practical—and less obvious—reasons for using URL shorteners today. The conversation covers creative uses, technical nuances, analytics, brand trust, and even the pitfalls marketers should be aware of.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Twitter’s Link Character Limit: The Big Reveal

• Change in Policy:
  Twitter announced that images and links no longer consume characters from your tweet's 140-character limit—or will very soon (as of this episode's date).

  • Daniel Rowles [00:22]: "Twitter announced that when you put an image or a link into your tweets, it won't take any of your character limit anymore."

• URL Shortener Myth Debunked:
  Shortened URLs (Bitly, Goo.gl, Hootsuite's Hootly, etc.) now always take up 23 characters in a tweet, regardless of their actual length.

  • Daniel Rowles [01:27]: "Any link that you're putting into Twitter at the moment is taking up 23 characters. ... So if you think that URL shorteners are there to save you some space, you're wrong. It's a myth."

• Practical Example:
  Whether you use a short URL or a lengthy one, Twitter standardizes the space used in tweets.

2. Real Value and Use Cases for Shortened URLs

• Tracking & Analytics:

  • While not saving space, URL shorteners offer robust tracking options (e.g., Bitly click stats, Goo.gl analytics, UTM parameters).
  • Daniel Rowles [11:07]: "Anything you're tweeting or putting through a URL shortener, you can actually add Google Analytics or any other analytics tracking code into that."

• Customization and Branding:

  • Many URL shorteners allow for custom slugs, making links more memorable or on-brand.
  • Kieran Rogers [05:18]: "You can choose what the message is. ... It's a way of adding additional messaging or concepts into what you're posting if you want to get creative about it.”

• Link Tidiness:

  • Shorteners make unwieldy URLs manageable, useful for presentations or printed materials.
  • Daniel Rowles [05:51]: “If I've got a really long link, say I'm doing a presentation ... we will very often put a shortened URL at the end rather than you having to type in a really long address.”

• Potential Pitfall: Ambiguous Characters

  • Some shorteners let you avoid similar-looking characters (capital "I" vs. lowercase "L") in your custom links for clarity.

3. Creative Uses and Opportunities with Twitter’s New Rules

• Interactive Storytelling:
  Daniel shares an example where someone used multiple links in tweets to create a "choose your own adventure" story, opening doors to innovative engagement ideas.

  • Daniel Rowles [04:01]: “Within 140 characters they told a little bit of narrative and they gave you two options and you click on it and it would take you somewhere else and then there would be another tweet from there.”

• Experimentation Encouraged:
  The lift on link/image character restrictions may allow more creativity while maintaining tweet brevity.

  • Daniel Rowles [04:34]: “If you've got an unlimited number of links and images, you could do all sorts of fun things with that as well. You could take people on a journey...”

4. User Perception, Trust, and Click-Through Impact

• Brand Transparency:
  Tweets linking directly to a recognizable domain can improve click-through rates, as users better trust what they'll see.

  • Daniel Rowles [07:16]: “...When we linked to our own website, we would show—we wouldn't shorten the URL. So you could see it was on the Target Internet website. And it has improved the click through rate of those blog posts.”

• Security Concerns:
  Links masked by shorteners may be repurposed or manipulated, creating potential brand or security risks.

  • Daniel Rowles [08:59]: “There was a thing in the US...where a politician had tweeted something and someone paid the blogger to change the thing at the other end to make them look like a racist.”

5. Analytics: URL Shorteners’ Hidden Strength

• Deep Dive and Custom Tracking:
  Use unique tracking codes for each link for granular analytics; this modifies the shortened URL, enabling even finer data segmentation.

  • Daniel Rowles [11:07]: "You can take a link, add the tracking code into it, then URL shorten it, and ... you can see specifically where they've come from and which tweet.”

• Shortener Platform Differences:

  • Goo.gl provides longer data retention and QR code generation, while Bitly limits analytics history unless paid for premium access.
  • Kieran Rogers [09:37]: “I'm a big fan of Goo.gl... Bitly have ... removed the ability to go back retrospectively and see when you got traffic and where it came from over beyond sort of 30 days."

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• The Core Myth:

  "If you think that URL shorteners are there to save you some space, you're wrong. It's a myth and it used to be the case. ... Any link that you're putting into Twitter ... is taking up 23 characters."
  — Daniel Rowles [01:27]

• Creativity Born From Constraints:

  "Half of the creativity of Twitter comes from having limited characters. ... Having to fit something within a certain number of characters is a good thing."
  — Daniel Rowles [04:34]

• Transparency Builds Trust:

  "When we linked to our own website, we would show—we wouldn't shorten the URL. So you could see it was on the Target Internet website. And it has improved the click through rate of those blog posts."
  — Daniel Rowles [07:16]

• A Word of Caution:

  "URL shorteners can be a little bit dangerous. ... there's nothing to stop someone changing what's on that link at the other end."
  — Daniel Rowles [08:59]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Discussion Point | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:22 | Twitter’s new link/image character policy explained | | 01:27 | Why saving character space via shorteners is a myth | | 03:08 | How Twitter displays links and user-facing character count | | 04:01 | Interactive storytelling with multiple links in tweets | | 05:18 | Using custom slugs in URL shorteners for messaging | | 05:51 | Shorteners’ value for presentations and link clarity | | 07:16 | Click-through rates and transparency: branded vs. shortened URLs | | 08:59 | Security risks and real-world manipulation incidents | | 09:37 | Comparing Bitly and Goo.gl analytics and retention | | 11:07 | Adding tracking codes & advanced analytics via URL shorteners | | 11:55 | Recap: Use shorteners wisely; awareness of pros and cons |

Takeaways & Conclusion

• Key Takeaway:
  The idea that URL shorteners save space on Twitter is outdated. Their primary value now lies in tracking, customization, brand management, and creative applications.

• Best Practice:
  Use shorteners deliberately—when you need analytics, want custom messaging, or for clarity in non-Twitter contexts. Otherwise, consider transparent links for trust and branding.

• Final Word:
  Twitter's small tweak may excite marketers, but it's a minor adjustment. Technical details matter, but so does using the right tool for the right job.

"Don't give up on URL shorteners. But it is a myth that they're saving you space within your tweets."
— Daniel Rowles [11:55]